IRNA -- In a major ongoing operation, the Indian Army, using MI-17 helicopters as gunships and mounted artillery, has killed about 65 militants in over six weeks to clear a vast area near the Line of Control in the Surankote area of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), where militants had set up command centers.
| Yay-hoo! Good shootin', Mukkerjee! |
Indian Army officials here said pro-Pakistani groups like the Jaish i-Mohammad, Lashkar e-Taiba, Al Badr and Hizbul Mujahideen of the Masood faction had, over a period of time, set up fortifications in the dense forest areas and had been using these bases to facilitate militant infiltration into Jammu district and Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama areas of Kashmir Valley. The Indian Army, in a major operation which started in the first week of April, launched an attack to destroy those bases and even convert some of them into Rashtriya Rifles fortifications. The area in the shape of a bulge protrudes into Indian territory and militants were calling it a liberated zone.
Officials said full details about the operation would be given next week, but said a large number of militants had been captured. Indian forces have recovered a large number of medium machine guns, mortars and highly sophisticated communication equipment. The area, known as Hill Kaka, comes under the Surankote assembly constituency and the region is the stronghold of former J&K state minister Chaudharhy Mohammad Aslam who, however, lost the last polls as militants did not allow the people to cast their votes. |